RALEIGH, N.C. — At the time, the goal was merely insurance, an extension of the advantage the Hurricanes already held over the Wild.
But by the end of the night, the play received its proper billing.
A shorthanded tally by Carolina that doubled its lead and locked up momentum for the hosts was eventually upgraded to game-winning goal status, the decisive sequence in a 5-2 stumble by the Wild on Thursday in front of 18,013 at PNC Arena that snapped their three-game win streak.
"No question that goal hurt us," coach Dean Evason said.
So did the seven power plays awarded to the Hurricanes, who capitalized twice.
Still, it was the goal when the Hurricanes were down a player that stung Minnesota the most — a Teuvo Teravainen shot off a 3-on-2 rush with 2 minutes, 38 seconds to go in the second period that dropped the Wild into a 3-1 hole.
Just seconds earlier, Carolina broke out for a 3-on-1 rush against the Wild power play after goaltender Frederick Andersen stopped two shots from Joel Eriksson Ek.
"It for sure could have been a different game if I put that one in," Eriksson Ek said.
This blip for the power play came after the same unit opened the scoring to signal a fresh start for the Wild after their first period was rife with penalties.
The Hurricanes had three power plays in that period and although they didn't convert on any of them, the Wild's rhythm was off.
"We had to come out and talk to the refs after the first period because our group was frustrated," Evason said. "Having said that, we have to find a way to turn the frustration into aggressive play. But it's hard because you're not able to play 5-on-5 and play that aggressive game.
"It was a frustrating night but end of the day, we can't take that many penalties."
On their first power play, the Wild reset when Kirill Kaprizov pounced on a Mats Zuccarello rebound 7:11 into the second.
The goal was Kaprizov's team-leading 26th and the 100th of his NHL career in his 180th game, making him the third-fastest among active players to reach that milestone; only Patrik Laine (179) and Alex Ovechkin (167) were quicker.
Since he arrived in the league two years ago, only Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ovechkin have more goals. Kaprizov is also the 10th player in Wild history to register 100 career goals.
By 9:07, Carolina retaliated when Brent Burns walked in for a backhander that eluded Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who was missing his stick.
Next came a power play marker from Lakeville's Brady Skjei at 13:33, a wind-up from inside the right point that got around Fleury and a Stefan Noesen screen in front of the net.
"I didn't see [the shot]," said Fleury, who totaled 24 stops. "When I found it, it was already by me."
Then the turning point arrived, a rising puck from Teravainen.
"It was a good shot," Fleury said. "But still, I want to make that save and keep us in the game."
The Wild challenged Carolina's fourth goal at 2:13 into the third period, a finish by Jalen Chatfield from the slot, but the NHL's situation room supported the on-ice call that the contact between the Hurricanes' Martin Necas and Fleury didn't qualify as goaltender interference.
"The explanation we got is that it was coincidental in the white paint," Evason said. "I don't understand because we watched [Necas] skate through the blue paint and take his stick out, and [Fleury's] got no chance of making a save."
Carolina tacked on a fifth goal at 5:27 when Necas scored on the power play before Matt Boldy ended his 11-game goalless drought 1:54 later.
Soon after the Wild received two more looks on the power play, including a five-minute opportunity, but they blanked on the chances. Andersen made seven of his 29 saves during the five-minute window. The Wild power play finished 1-for-4.
"You can say what you want about frustration and whatever," Evason said, "but we didn't do enough to help ourselves win this hockey game and they did."
